Flutter By, Butterfly
by MootheQuackingCow
Summary: Sara's daughter is having a wedding, but she's still missing her late husband, Grissom. Will he return for the wedding anyway? GSR, first CSI fic. Slightly AU


**First CSI fic, don't kill me if they're OOC. XP**

**Disclaimer: …do I LOOK like Jerry Bruckheimer to you! -.-**

**A/N: Oneshot fic, with total GSR. Some CWR (even though Warrick isn't really mentioned…eheh.). Kinda angsty, kinda cute. Whatever.**

"Thanks again for doing this for me, Uncle Nicky."

"Hey, don't worry about it," Nick replied with a huge grin on his face. "You look great, Ash."

Ashley blushed. She then smiled and twirled around for him to see. Nick smiled at her theatrics. "You nervous at all?" he drawled.

Ashley shook her head. "No, I've been ready for this since the day I met him," she said with a laugh. Nick grinned. "I hope so, cuz divorce _really_ sucks. Just ask Warrick."

Ash nodded. "He's warned me. Him _and_ Aunt Catherine."

Nick laughed. "That's definitely like them…since they've gotten married, they've been pretty protective of each other."

Ash smiled, but then looked down, tears swimming in her eyes. Nick furrowed his brow. "Hey, girl, you okay?"

She nodded weakly, then whispered, "I just miss Dad…"

Nick sighed. "So do I, girl. So do I."

She looked up and smiled. Nick was always so kind to her; he was like her only brother. And tonight, he would be her father. He would walk her down the aisle with Mark looking on at the end of the aisle, smiling…

"Ash!"

Ashley turned around, only to see her mother standing in front of her with a huge grin on her face. "God, you look beautiful. It'll take the priest and some of the audience to drag Mark offa you," Sara said enthusiastically.

"Thanks, Mom." Ash ran over to hug her. Sara sighed and hugged her daughter close to her. "You've changed so much, Ash…" she choked.

"Mom, don't…" Ashley warned, tears threatening to spill down her cheeks too.

"No, Ash, listen to me. When…your father and I picked you up from the adoption center, we knew you'd be special. We were so happy to have you, and that hasn't changed and never will change. You're a very special woman, and Mark is a very lucky man to have you. I'm very proud of you, Ash, and I love you." She gave her daughter a tight squeeze as she felt the tears finally begin to roll down her cheeks and into Ash's hair.

"…Do…do you think Dad's proud of me, too, right now…?" Ash asked hesitantly.

Sara looked at her and gave her a watery smile. "I _know_ he's proud of you, honey. And he misses you, too."

Ash looked up. "D'you think that he's watching me now?"

Sara nodded, the tears continuing to fall down her face. "I think he's watching the both of us."

Nick looked around, then muttered something about going to adjust his tie. He walked off uncomfortably, not wanting to interrupt the two.

Ash looked up at her mother. "…I think I'd better help him. I don't think he can do it by himself yet," she whispered, smiling.

Sara grinned and nodded, sniffing slightly and waving her off. Ash ran after Nick, yelling something about him not being able to do it himself. Sara smiled again; she was just like her father sometimes.

She looked up again, into the sky. "You watching this, Gil?" she whispered. "You should be. You should be here right now." She cursed herself and looked back to the floor.

A familiar voice asked Sara if she was all right. She turned, only to find Greg Sanders standing behind her with a concerned look on his face.

"I'm fine."

He raised an eyebrow.

Sara sighed. "I was just…thinking."

"And talking to yourself," he added, a big grin on his face.

"Greggo, I—"

"Hey, no worries, I get it. I miss Bugman too. We all do." He draped a comforting arm around her shoulders. Sara smiled warmly. Greg was always so comforting to be around. He almost had an aura around him; it seemed like nothing could ever get to him.

Sara felt a fluttering on her bare lower back. Her dress was red with a low cut hole in the back. "Greg…!" she exclaimed. "Cut it out!"

Greg furrowed his brows. "What? I'm not doin' anything!" He then noticed the culprit--a large monarch butterfly. "It's just a butterfly, Sara. I'm insulted! I can't believe you'd think I'd do that to you!" he said, raising a hand to his heart. He was always being so theatrical. Sara rolled her eyes, and looked behind her.

Sure enough, the butterfly was there, lying almost possessively on her back. She sucked in a breath as tears began to stream down her face once again. Greg gave her a questioning look. She looked back at him and smiled that pretty, gap toothed smile that was unique to only her.

"…Griss…always said that…if he were to die…he'd come back as a monarch…" she whispered weakly. Greg smiled and nodded.

"You believe in any of that mumbo jumbo?" he asked innocently.

Sara gave him a glare and nodded. "Anything to give me hope," she replied fiercely. The lab tech grinned.

"That's so like you, Sara."

Sara smiled again. The butterfly fluttered off of her back and onto her shoulder. She moved to try and scare it away, but it didn't budge. It actually turned to her and flapped its wings a couple of times. Then if flew off and landed on Greg's nose.

"Whoa!" he screeched. "Gitoffame!" He tried to shoo it off, but Sara grabbed his hand before he could hit it.

"C'mon, Sara, this thing's getting annoying…"

"No, Greg. What if…what if it's…what if it's him?" she whispered urgently.

Greg looked at her with a smirk. "Sara, you can't _honestly_ think that—"

"I _do_, and I think it's him…" she whispered, and gently picked up the monarch from Greg's face. She held it out to the sky, waiting for it to fly away.

But, of course, it didn't.

The bells began to toll. "Magic time," Greg hissed, complete with a dorky "tada"-like pose. Sara laughed and followed Greg, the butterfly close behind.

Ash began to walk with Nick down the aisle. She had a nervous smile on her face. But when she caught a glimpse of Mark, she knew that this was right, this is what was supposed to happen, this—

Ash started, startled by a giant monarch butterfly that landed on her shoulder.

She automatically smiled and knew what was going on. "Hey, Dad," she whispered to the butterfly on her shoulder. Nick glanced at her, confused. She jerked her head softly to the monarch. He nodded, still not knowing what was going on.

As soon as they arrived at the altar, Nick released his hold on her, and the butterfly solemnly flew off of her shoulder and took a spot over by Sara and Catherine. Catherine tried to shoo the minor annoyance away from her arm, but Sara shook her head and mouthed "Grissom" to her. Catherine raised a skeptical eyebrow, but shrugged and left it alone.

It was a beautiful ceremony. Practically the whole congregation was sobbing, and the monarch was incredibly still, as if listening in. When Mark finally kissed his bride, everyone cheered and the butterfly flew upward in an act of rejoice. Sara ran up to her adopted daughter and gave her a big squeeze.

"Oof! Mom…you're…squishing me…" Ash gasped out, not able to talk properly from lack of oxygen.

"Sorry," Sara laughed and released her. "You did well, Ash," she whispered.

"Is this how your wedding went?" Ash asked.

Sara shook her head. "Our wedding was…quiet. We didn't want too many people to be there. It was just the team and a few of our family members. Nothing too special…but it was." She smiled sadly, lost in memories. "You know…when Gil got shot, I didn't know what I was going to do. I felt lost. Like a ghost or something. But as I got older, I realized he really _is_ watching over us. And today…I saw him…and I know it sounds crazy, but I did."

Ash smiled at the butterfly that was hovering behind her mother. "I know, Mom, I saw him too."


End file.
